Do solids aggravate reflux?

[Anonymous]

Ian is seemingly tolerating bananas pretty well and now second day of butternut squash (only 2 teaspoons). He’s in great temperment, good bowel movements now for over a week, and no gas, rash, or spit up. Only weird thing is his reflux tends to act up. Now granted, it never seems under control but yesterday we didn’t give banana and although he was refusing bottles a bit, it seemed better in terms of grunting and the major arching which he was doing. He is mspi and that does aggravate reflux but can the same be true for solids? Is that a reaction? Or maybe stomach pain manifesting like reflux? He seems so good otherwise so don’t want to stop when we’re finally making progress but if it’s causing him harm I will. Plus he hates his bottles so much that I long for more solids to make up calories.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Tracy (Ian’s Mom 9-26-05) Elecare and prevacid

[Anonymous]

I’ve come to accept that with Myles some days he throws up a lot, other days hardly at all. I used to always think, oh, it’s the carrots, or oh, it’s the pears, or it’s the tiny bit of peas he tried and hated. After a while, I came to the conclusion that at least for Myles, his solids don’t seem to have anything to do with his varying degrees of reflux on given days.

If Ian seems happy and not in any pain, I’d stick with the solids for now and until and unless you see some real connection with a certain food or some clear signs of distress coming from him. That’s what I decided to do with Myles and I’m glad I did. He’s been eating the same 5 foods (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, pears, and apples) for the last two months, and some days he throws up a few times, some days not at all. I think it’s just the way the reflux finally is outgrown; a little at a time.

If it’s really a certain food bothering him, you’d probably pick up on it if you stick with one food for a week before starting another. And you could keep a food journal, if you have time. I’ve got three little one’s so the food journal was only a fleeting thought for me.

Myles is no bottle baby, either. He drinks only about 15 ounces per day…so I really think he needs his solids, too.

I hope that you find that Ian is not bothered by any of the foods he likes, and that he continues to enjoy eating his baby foods.

[Anonymous]

Tracy, I noticed in one of your other posts that Ian got an ulcer? do you think it was from prevacid? I wasn’t sure from your post whether you thought it was related to the prevacid or not.

Even on 30mg’s of prevacid he’s still arching and refusing the bottle? Have you had him tested for anything like a sucking/swallowing problem? Myles has a high palate which his doctor said contributes to his dislike of the bottle. There’s nothing they can really do about it; it’s not severe enough to require surgical repair. Before he finally got relief on the right meds his doctor suggested a sucking/swallowing study where somebody would come to the house and watch him eat. I probably should have done it because if they had caught the high palate young enough I may have been able to get him on a different bottle/nipple that would have helped. Now he will not try anything new.

I was just wondering if you had looked into that with Ian. With the right dose of PPI, you would think he’d be bottle feeding a lot better.

I’m just wondering if there is some other reason he hates his bottle. I’ve always suspected that Myles hated his bottle for more reasons than just his reflux, and I’m probably right because his reflux is better on meds, and he still really doesn’t like the bottle.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Christine. Yes! My sentiments exactly! Everyone keeps telling me ‘high dose ppi should do it’ yet he still refluxes pretty badly right now-even prior to starting bananas. We held off solids for a month because of watery stools and now it’s aggravated reflux. It’s always something and I just feel like WHEN we he show some improvement.

We’ve had a swallow/sucking study at a feeding clinic, barium enema, endoscopy, pi probe, and coming up a sucrase test. He’s been negative for everything. But we can clearly see arching and grunting. Bananas have been going really well but reflux seems even worse if possible so wanted to see if there was a connection.

It’s just so frustrating!

Tracy

[Anonymous]

Tracy – I think if he were intolerant of the bananas you’d see other
symptoms like rashes, congestion, gas, diarrhea, etc. But I DO think
that solids can aggravate reflux for some simply because there is more
in the system to digest. So if his digestive system is being stressed,
adding in food that is harder than he is used to digesting might just
aggravate things? Hard to say for sure. Do they suspect DGE at all?

[Anonymous]

I was going to ask about DGE also. I think that may be part of Myles’ problem. Babies with DGE probably don’t experience hunger as much as other babies because their tummies don’t empty like they should. Also, I think Prevacid is a bad choice for babies with DGE because it has to be taken on an empty stomach. These babies probably never have an empty stomach. Zegerid is probably better for these babies.

Yes, it is very frustrating. I can’t wait until Myles is a year old and I can throw his bottles away! I’m just sick of the whole darn thing.

[Anonymous]

Well he’s never had a stomach emptying test but he does (occasionally) get hungry. When bottle feeding, he does go to it, pull away and arch. I have thought of DGE and they even wanted to put him on Reglan, but I said no way. I still think I would say no way. Why can’t motillium be available over here! USA drug laws drive me nuts with all the politics! But…that’s another rant.

Anyone out there have a dge kid and try to start solids? Maybe I can pick up hints even if that’s not Ian’s issue…

Yes-I’m going to have a bottle burning ceremony! Particularily because they’re doctor brown ones!

Also, I feed him 4 x a day now (just went down from 5 and he takes the same amount). Figured it gave me more time for meds and solids in between…was that a bad idea?

Thanks ladies!

Tracy

[Anonymous]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dropping a bottle – Marisa is
currently on 4 and going to 3 soon with a lunch meal being added in. As
long as his intake didn’t/doesn’t drastically drop, no worries.

Did you get the results back from the ID doctor?

[Anonymous]

I’m thinking of dropping one of Myles’ feedings as well. He only takes 2 – 3 ounces in his morning bottle, and really only to humor me; he doesn’t want anything to do with a bottle in the morning. I give it to him because I just can’t seem to give it up yet….I feel like I’m starving my child if I don’t give him a bottle in the morning. Once we give that one up he’ll be down to three bottles and two meals of cereal and baby food. He’s only 7 months old for Pete’s Sake!!

So, no I don’t think you’re making a mistake in dropping one of his feedings; especially if he’s making up for it and still eating the same or close to the same amount. It is so hard to get that Prevacid in on an empty stomach three times per day. You’re whole day revolves around meds and feedings.

Oh, and I wouldn’t put Myles on Reglan, either. That’s why I haven’t had him tested for DGE, even though I am most certain he has it. As for solids and DGE, if Myles has DGE which I’m sure he does, the solids really haven’t made it any worse. He’s pretty much the same with or without them. He just doesn’t eat very much compared to most babies, I think.

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